Royal Affairs

In the foreword to Royal Affairs, Leslie Carroll (who writes biographical historical fiction under the pen name Amanda Elyot) describes our ongoing fascination with the sex scandals of the wealthy and powerful—an attribute that connects today’s gossip-hungry information society to the past. Many of the better-known stories in Royal Affairs will be familiar to readers of historical fiction set in Britain, and there are no groundbreaking revelations in the book, but Carroll’s light, casual writing style makes this an entertaining read nonetheless. Each individual affair gets its own section, effectively breaking the book into bite-sized chunks. She quotes directly from primary sources when available, and she blends fact and speculation carefully. Because this is a survey of royal peccadilloes, and because there’s a lot of historical territory to cover, there isn’t a lot of depth or detail. However, Carroll gives enough of the story to intrigue readers and perhaps inspire further research.

Review

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